Linux

The End Of Windows 10

First I do say that Windows 10 wasn’t terrible, but it has some major issues which I will tell before I talk about Linux.

I had a clean install of Windows as my computer XPS dell notebook became a brick not too long after the free upgrade from windows 8.1. I liked it as a clean install and was content for a short while. Start times were long and with virus software it really slowed down the machine. I tried a few different virus programs to see if I could speed it up & in the end went back to windows defender. Which was fine, not that I was going anywhere to get a virus & I am careful about that kind of stuff anyway.

I held out before changing as I had purchased software for windows which wasn’t cheap and I was reluctant to give it up. But even with being careful one fateful day my computer decided to not see the optical drive, I tried various ways to sort out the issue but in the end it was going to take a reinstall of windows 10. My issue is although I forget the reason I had reinstalled windows 10 about two weeks prior & this was the last straw as the saying goes!

Hello Linux

Well having decided I was done with windows my decision was which Distro of linux was I going to use? I have tried a couple in the past & Ubuntu struck me personally as too much work for a newbie, I wanted something that works out of the box. I decided to go with Linux Mint 18.1 Serena.

Absolute Joy

I cannot tell you how much I love this operating system, it’s familiar yet different. It starts up & shuts down faster, I don’t need virus software, and it comes with practically all the tools you need to function with a computer. I have installed some software that was open source that I liked and I was lucky that some of the software I had purchased the license was good for a linux version, which was wonderful!

As I mentioned I was concerned that I would have to discard windows software now that I was in Linux world. My worries were unfounded by a piece of software called Wine. This wonderful software allows me to install a run windows software & I didn’t even have to install a windows OS, it makes moving to linux a no-brain-er.

Terminal

Okay so the major difference switching to Linux is how you install software, it is a learning curve but there are resources available to find answers. I am still very new to the terminal, but after a few weeks I am getting the hang of it a little. It does give a me a sense of accomplishment when I get it right, but it is a learning curve; it’s also the reason you don’t need virus software, which is great!

I personally will never be going back to windows on my personal computer again, it was a decision that I did anguish over, but I was so frustrated with having to fix issue practically weekly I had gone through enough frustration. If you ever find yourself questioning what operating system might be the best for you I would highly recommend checking out linux, mint might not be for you but as you can run all the different distro’s from a disk there is no excuse.

What is technology? I am sure the answer today would be very different from even ten years ago. The change has happened fast and has been global!

Today I looked at the next version of the iPhone. It’s hard to believe this innovation started only five years ago.
With the change toward a truly mobile digital society, hardware and software have improved so much that today we should really just look at what works for us, not question whether it will work!

With this innovation in tech, including data networks that allow us to interact in so many new ways, we have as a society met a contradiction.

The tech we want to work so well for us in our digital world needs to know who we are so it can serve our online needs. For this reason some have felt a considerable loss of privacy. While there will always be instances where I agree that data belonging to a individual is a precious commodity and should be protected, my geek self wants to avail of the new innovations in technology; including the mobile integration and the new ways tech will allow me to transact business & interact with friends & family.

We do as a society need to decide what info is normal to give out to function in this new world, & how our info will be used & kept from abuse. This needs to be standardized and universal, because at this stage many different aspects of our digital self are floating around without control and safeguards. Until this is sorted I feel that the general population is at risk, and in a quest for profit some businesses don’t give data handling the security it really deserves; and this lack of clarity does scare me.

The next thing that scares me about the future of technological integration is the lack of education. We are making powerful mobile computers that allow many different kinds of interaction, but as a society, we are not showing our youth how to use these things in a polite manner. Is there no etiquette when it comes to new mobile tech?

People defend the right to be careless in the name if freedom of choice; I still see people texting while driving. If we live in a society and not on an island by ourselves. Society should demand a behavior that allows individual freedom without inflicting those around us with stupidity.

I love tech & innovation. We live in a wonderful dreamland of new opportunities, but as a society can we start thinking about how our digital self represents our true self, and how much of our true self we need to divulge to create that digital self, without putting our true self at risk!